Quotes about Hope

Joseph's story just parted company with the volumes of self-help books and all the secret-to-success formulas that direct the struggler to an inner power (dig deeper). Joseph's story points elsewhere (look higher).

You can't see the warden. You can't see the locks. But you can see the prisoners. You can see them as they sit on their bunks and bemoan their fate. They want to live, but they can't because they are doomed to do what they most want to avoid—they will die. Imagine Jesus seeing us in our "prisons" of fear:

You will never go where God is not.

faith: faith is the deeply held belief that God will keep his promises

But only one with a gut full of faith can live a sermon on a mountain of pain.

When you are confused: "'I know what I am planning for you,' says the LORD. 'I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you'" (Jeremiah 29:11). If you feel weighted by yesterday's failures: "So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not judged guilty" (Romans 8:1). On those nights when you wonder where God is: "I am the Holy One, and I am among you" (Hosea 11:9). from And the Angels Were Silent

No more Bethesda for you. No more waking up and going to sleep in the same mess. God dismantled the neutral gear from your transmission. He is the God of forward motion, the God of tomorrow. He is ready to write a new chapter in your biography.

And it is when we are out of options that we are most ready for God's surprises.

Why did he do it? One reason. So when you hurt, you will go to him - your Father and your Physician - and let him heal.

This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Others see the problems of the world and wring their hands. We see the problems of the world and bend our knees.

If you fear you've written too many checks on God's kindness account, drag regrets around like a broken bumper, huff and puff more than you delight and rest, and, most of all, if you wonder whether God can do something with the mess of your life, then grace is what you need.

A whole new year is waiting for you. I pray that you'll pray for Jesus to grow in you, for everything you say and think and do to reflect more and more of him. For you and me, every day can be Christmas. Let's present the world with the greatest gift of all: Jesus.